Stunning in the late afternoon sunshine, these Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts are incredibly tempting to look at.

Bath Soft Cheese is organic and suitable for vegetarians. It is made by the Bath Soft Cheese Company in Kelston near Bath. It really does taste like an English version of Brie. Soft and buttery, it matures to a ripe, full bodied cheese, that stands up well to the chilli in this recipe.

Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts incredibly simple to make and bake.

As you cut through the light, crisp filo pastry layers the melted cheese oozes out of the tart, accompanied by the spicy pickle underneath. All that is required to accompany this tart is a few (homegrown if possible) salad leaves and a glass of something crisp and cool.

Place 6 loose bottom tart tins on a baking tray. I used 9cm width, between 8-10cm (3.5-4″) will be fine.

Brush each tart tin lightly with melted butter using a pastry brush.

Have a clean damp tea towel to hand – the filo pastry can dry out very quickly, so it’s best to cover the spare pastry sheets.

Place one filo pastry sheet on to a board or pastry mat. Brush lightly with melted butter.

Using a sharp knife cut the filo pastry sheet into equal quarters and then cut each quarter in half, from top to bottom. You will have 8 squares/rectangles. Don’t worry they don’t have to be perfect!

Start by laying 1 square of filo pastry in the tart tin, gently pressing it so that it sticks to the base and the sides.

Add another square of filo pastry, laying it slight offset from the first piece. The idea is to build up layers that form a solid tart shell with lots of edges/corners on the side, which will become golden and crisp on baking.

See how the 5 layers of filo pastry build up to create a solid tart shell.

Continue building the tart case until you have used 5 separate layers of filo pastry – bottom right in the picture above.

I actually built 2 tart cases at a time, I wouldn’t recommend building more as each layer will dry out as you prepare the next sheet and is then likely to crack and fall apart once baked.

When all 6 tart cases have been built, spoon 2 generous teaspoons of the Chilli Pickle into the base of each one.

Cut the block of Bath Soft Cheese into 6 equal-ish portions – they will weigh approximately 40 grammes.

Place a square of cheese on top of Chilli Pickle in each tart case.

Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts are so easy to make

Sprinkle the top of each tart with a little freshly ground black pepper and some freshly snipped chives – reserve half of the chives for garnish once baked.

Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts ready for the oven.

Place the Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts in the top of the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes. The tarts are cooked when the filo pastry is crisp and golden and the cheese has melted to fill each tart.

Once baked remove the baking tray from the oven and allow the tarts to cool for 10-15 minutes in their tins.

Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts freshly baked.

The Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts can then be carefully removed from their tins and are best served warm. Don’t worry if a couple of crispy pieces of filo pastry break off as you handle them. These delightful tarts are built of 5 layers of filo pastry and are actually quite strong.

I like to serve each tart, warm, on a bed of deeply coloured, fresh lettuce leaves with an extra sprinkle of fresh chives.

Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts a delicious light lunch.

Such a simple and yet flavourful appetiser or light lunch. The tarts also taste delicious cold. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days and vamp up your packed lunch.

I really would recommend the Chillililli from Hawkshead Relish. Not only does it have great flavour in this tart, it also adds a surprise texture, hidden beneath the melted cheese.

If you have enjoyed this recipe for Bath Soft Cheese Chilli Tarts then you may also like these:

As you can see, I am loving creating recipes with cheese. You may also like my Cheddar Tomato Basil Quiche, which is exceptionally delicious if you substitute the Cheddar for Sparkenhoe Red Leicester cheese!

Coming up with new ideas, flavour pairings and recipes, really gives me a thrill. With all that my body goes through see here, it is wonderful that I can still express my creativity, through cooking and baking and in turn, share my recipes with you.

Whatever you are making, baking and creating in your kitchens, have fun. Enjoy your feast and remember, when you are able, to invite others round to share with you. It really is true that food tastes better when it is shared!

Sammie xx

Pong Cheese provided me with the cheese to create this recipe. All opinions, views, content and photographs are my own. I was not paid to write this post, please see my Disclosure Policy.

The first time I made Chocolate DippedViennese Fingers was an experience, shall we say. It was relatively early on in my blog and in my wisdom I decided to set the dipped Viennese biscuits on a cooling rack!

Most of them stuck. Badly.

I had a kitchen full of broken biscuits and managed to salvage just enough for a decent photograph.

As part of the #GBBOTwitterBakeAlong run by Jackie Heaton and Rob Allen, both amazing bakers and huge encouragers, I wanted to really make an effort. Each week will have a different theme, this week’s being biscuits.

Now we all know I am a self confessed Cookie Monster. In fact I think our whole family are. When I was younger my Grandad would bring my youngest Auntie, my sister and I a cup of tea, in bed, every morning. No one made tea like my Grandad. Anyway we would always get three biscuits, which we would swap so that we had our favourites – I still cannot understand the appeal of custard creams, but each to their own.

Ever since I was little, staying in the comfort and security of my grandparents home, that was my routine. It still is. I can miss breakfast and lunch, so long as I’ve had a cup of tea and a biscuit or cookie first thing in the morning. It is the one thing I would not choose to ever give up. It is part of my morning routine, so much so, that when I was in hospital last year see here, I would save my packet of 3 biscuits given out with the hot chocolate in the evening, so that I could have them with my morning tea.

Growing up, although my Grandma was an accomplished cook, I cannot recall her making biscuits. For me though, it was the very first skill I mastered in the kitchen. These days I tend towards lazy cookies rolled into balls, or scooped with an ice cream scoop. So to actually pipe biscuits, make a ganache and sandwich them together, well that’s a first for me – not the piping, I’ve definitely never made sandwiched biscuits.

I made and baked one batch of my ChocolateDipped Viennese Fingers and then tweaked the recipe to make a chocolate version. There’s a tiny bit more icing sugar in the chocolate finger biscuits as I wanted to offset any bitterness from the cocoa.

Chocolate Vanilla Viennese Finger Biscuits perfectly presented.

Tomorrow morning, I will have a luxury start to my day. A Chocolate Vanilla Viennese Finger Biscuit to accompany my morning cup of tea!

Next sift in the cocoa powder. Whisk for a further 2 minutes until the mixture is a dark, chocolatey brown colour.

Sift the corn flour, plain and self raising flour into the bowl.

Using a metal spoon mix the ingredients together until the are just combined, with no visible white streaks present.

Fit a large piping bag with a large, Wilton #1M star tip.

Fill the piping bag with the soft, chocolate biscuit dough.

Pipe 3″/7-8cm lengths of biscuit dough on to the lined baking tray.

Piped Chocolate Vanilla Viennese Finger Biscuits ready for the oven.

Place both trays of piped biscuits in the centre and lower part of the oven.

Bake the biscuits for 12 minutes. They will be firm to touch and may have spread a little.

Once baked remove the biscuits from the oven and allow to cool completly on the tray.

Chocolate Vanilla Viennese Finger Biscuits beautifully baked.

Whilst the biscuit fingers are cooling it is worth making the White chocolate ganache that will be piped on the underside of the fingers and used to sandwich them together.

In a heatproof, microwaveable jug add the white chocolate and double cream.

Zap for 1 minute on medium power.

Remove from the microwave and stir. If there are still lumps of unmelted chocolate, pop it back in for a further 30 seconds on medium.

Stir the ganache until the melted white chocolate is fully mixed into the cream.

Whisk the ganache to cool it and continue whisking until the ganache thickens and becomes airy – today it was so warm that I wasn’t able to get the ganache to solidify.

Whisk the ganache until it is cool and thickened.

If the weather is cool the thickened ganache can be scooped into a piping bag with a medium round tip fitted – I poured the ganache into a disposable piping bag, which I then sealed with an elastic band and I placed it into the coldest part of the fridge until it had thickened.

Whilst the ganache was cooling I melted both the dark and white chocolate in small heatproof, microwaveable bowls.

Dip the chocolate fingers into the white chocolate and the vanilla fingers into the dark chocolate. Lay the dipped biscuit fingers on to anon stick silicone mat or baking parchment.

Not all of the biscuit fingers will be dipped in chocolate, that’s fine it is nice to have a variety.

Once the ganache has firmed up to piping consistency, think buttercream, then you are ready to assemble your biscuits.

Pipe a line of white chocolate ganache down the length, flat side upper, of one biscuit.

NOTE: Due to the fragile, melting nature of the Viennese biscuits, it is inevitable that some will break. I thoroughly enjoyed ‘taste testing’ the few breakages with our 2 daughters!

I ended up with 18 perfectly sandwiched biscuits.

Due to the heat I popped all the filled biscuits on to a baking tray and placed them back into the fridge to set, before taking the photographs.

To store I placed the Chocolate VanillaViennese Finger Biscuits into a shallow tin and place them back in the fridge. With temperatures set to rise over the next few days, assuming they last that long 😉, they will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge.

Chocolate Vanilla Viennese Finger Biscuits ooh I bet you go back for seconds!

Serve on a pretty plate, adorned with flowers from the garden. These Chocolate VanillaViennese Finger Biscuits are perfect with afternoon tea, or morning coffee.

If you have enjoyed these Chocolate Vanilla Viennese Finger Biscuits here are some other recipes you may like:

Sitting together with friends over a mid morning coffee, or with family for afternoon tea, doesn’t have to be a formal occasion. Yet when a little extra effort is made, for example, adding the rose to the centre of the plate, it really lifts the occasion.

All food should be feasted on and enjoyed, not just eaten for the sake of it (unless circumstances, for example illness, dictate otherwise). Food shared, tastes better and eating with company can be more fun.

Make the most of what’s left of the summer to eat outside. Watching the butterflies, listening to the birds, bees and ruffling leaves of the trees, adds an extra element of fun to our feasting.

Who doesn’t love garlic bread, served alongside a great pasta dish, with a glass of something chilled? I certainly do and after seeing a fantastic foodie craze on Pinterest I knew I had to try it. Everyone is mad about these Garlic Cheese Bombs!

Everyone loves it when I make them and having successfully frozen them, uncooked, they are great to have on hand. Fresh or frozen.

Garlic Cheese Bombs great for feeding a crowd.

Honestly these Garlic Cheese Bombs have become such a massive hit in our house. I’m really glad that they freeze well as my family would scoff the whole lot if I baked them all at once. I have learned from the first time I made them!

Garlic Cheese Bombs

If you have little ones, they will thoroughly enjoy making these.

The only extra ingredient required to make the Garlic Cheese Bombs is a little patience. Making 30 – 40 individual, little cheese wrapped buns, could be seen as tedious – not here at Feasting is Fun though. We don’t do tedious!! So put on some great music or a play, clear the table and enjoy some therapeutic relaxation, whilst you play with dough!

Before you know it you’ll have two trays full of delicious, homemade, bread buns proving and you can give yourself a smug pat on the back, knowing that one tray is going to be stashed in the deep freeze.

Baking bread is a real passion of mine, second only to my faith see ImportantStuff. As this week has been Real Bread Week it seemed fitting to end on a recipe that is fun to make and tastes best when feasting with family and friends.

Garlic Cheese Bombs absolute fun to make and feast on!

I have made these Garlic Cheese Bombs using both my own dough recipe and a Wright’s bread mix. Truthfully and this almost hurts to write this, the children preferred the ones made with the bread mix.

Our children are very honest!!

Personally I think they are both great. The Wright’s bread mix is handy if you’re an infrequent bread baker, or haven’t made bread dough before and want to ensure they turn out great. My dough recipe is for those of us who are happy to make their dough from scratch. That said, there’s room in my kitchen for both.

Method: You will need a foil freezer/baking tray or 2 if you intend to freeze these.

Drain the mozerella balls well and count how many you have.

Make up the dough according to your chosen option.

Allow the dough to prove until doubled in size and then tip out on to a lightly floured surface.

For the very precise among you, weigh the bread dough and then divide that number by the number of mozerella balls. That will tell you exactly how much each piece of dough should weigh.

If you are more ‘laissez faire’ about things, like me, simply divide the dough evenly into 3 or 4 equal pieces (depending on whether you have 30 or 40 mozerella balls) and then divide each potion into 10.

Flatten a small portion of dough into a rough circular shape.

Place the mozerella ball in the centre of the dough circle.

Bring the edges of the dough up so that they cover the cheese and seal by pressing together.

Place the Garlic Cheese Bomb seam side down on a lightly oiled baking tray.

After a while you get into a rhythm and the process becomes very relaxing.

Continue until all of the Garlic Cheese Bombs have been made, allowing space in between each one the tray so that it has room to rise.

Cover with damp kitchen towel or oiled cling film.

The Garlic Cheese Bombs in the photo above are from the first batch that I made.

Leave until doubled in size.

Whilst the rolls are proving, make the garlic butter.

Place the butter, oil, crushed/finely minced garlic, salt and pepper into a small saucepan over a low heat.

Cook until all the butter has melted. Set to one side.

Preheat the oven to 209C/180C fan, gas mark 6.

When the Garlic Cheese Bombs have doubled in size, remove the damp cloth/cling film and brush liberally, using a pastry brush, with the melted garlic butter.

You’ll be surprised at how much these delicious rolls puff up.

Now is the stage at which the Garlic Cheese Bombs can be frozen. Double wrap the foil tray with freezer safe cling film, label and pop in the freezer. They should be fine for at least one month in the freezer.

To bake the freshly garlic glazed buns, place into the middle of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown.

When baked remove the tray from the oven and immediately transfer the individual Garlic Cheese Bombs to a serving platter. Be careful as they will be very hot.

Pour over any garlic butter left in the tray and garnish with roughly chopped parsley,

Leave for 5 minutes before serving to allow thm to cool slightly.

Serve with a smile and watch as people break open these golden, light, cheesy rolls, flavoured with garlic butter.

Garlic Cheese Bombs the perfect food for sharing, feasting and having fun.

Note: To cook from frozen, preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan, gas mark 5. Remove all cling film/foil. Place the frozen rolls into the middle of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and baked through. To test remove a roll and cut in half, if the mozerella is gooey and melted then the Garlic CheeseBombs are baked. Serve as for freshly baked.

So you’ve got a party in the evening and you want to make these earlier in the day? I’d suggest making them the day, or even a few days ahead and stashing them in the freezer. Alternatively make them in the morning, glazed with garlic butter before their final prove (it’ll save you stinking of garlic as you great your guests 😉), wrap in cling film and keep in the fridge. Take them out 10 minutes before baking, whilst you preheat the oven and bake as for fresh.

Make ahead recipes are fantastic as they allow you to enjoy spending time with your guests, rather than being stuck, on your own in the kitchen!

If you have loved these Garlic Cheese Bombs, then here are some other recipes you might like to try:

I really hope you do try making your own bread. Most bread doughs can withstand a reasonable amount of mistreatment and still turn into fabulous loves, breadsticks, baguettes. The possibilities are endless and nothing, not even chocolate cake such as this White Chocolate Swirl Fudge Cake beats the smell of home baked bread.

Thank you for all you lovely comments, especially on Twitter regarding the great yeast debate – more on that in a future post! It really makes my day to see pictures of you baking my recipes and in most cases they look even better. Which I think is completely brilliant. You all inspire me to try harder and write easy to follow, delicious recipes.

Look at the gorgeously dense and fudgey brownie base to this cheesecake. Chocolate and raspberry flavours work so well together and this Chocolate Brownie Raspberry Cheesecake really is a dream dessert.

Recently our youngest daughter revealed that she really didn’t like the traditional biscuit that usually is on the base of a cheesecake. She does however, love the creamy, top part. So this cheesecake was made with her in mind.

She absolutely loves brownies (as do the rest of us) and I wondered what she would think, of a cheesecake made with a brownie base. I decided to add a layer of deep, dark chocolate ganache to the top of the brownie base, primarily to stop the base from becoming soggy, but also to add an extra layer of chocolate to this cheesecake.

Each ingredient comes in a separate package all I needed to do was add butter and eggs and follow the recipe!

I was impressed with the ingredient packaging and the instructions provided with the Artisan Chocolate Brownie Bake Box. Baking these brownies was very similar to making my own homemade brownies, except someone had already weighed the ingredients out for me! All I needed to do was add butter and eggs.

This Chocolate Brownie Raspberry Cheesecake is utterly stunning to look at and even more delicious to eat.

The whipped, mousse like, raspberry cheesecake layer, isn’t overly sweet. With an added splash of raspberry liquer and vanilla notes of white chocolate, this dessert is an awesome combination of flavours.

Layered together, with a final swirl of the best quality dark chocolate, this cheesecake may be my favourite dessert yet?!!

Line the base of a 10″ (25cm) Springform cake tin with the parchment backed, tin foil provided.

Follow the recipe card provided to make the brownies.

Pour the brownie mixture into the springform tin and tap against the work top twice to release any trapped air bubbles.

Place the tin in the oven and bake according to the instructions – my brownie base took 15 minutes to bake.

Once baked remove the tin from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.

Delicious brownie base studded with dark chocolate chips.

Making the Chocolate Ganache:

In a heatproof bowl add 100g dark chocolate and 100ml of double cream.

Place the bowl on top of a small saucepan that contains approximately an inch of barely simmering water – this is called a double boiler.

Stir the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is thick and glossy.

Pour the chocolate ganache over the cooled brownie base.

Smooth to an even layer using the back of a metal dessert spoon.

Place in the fridge until the ganache has set.

Glossy chocolate ganache not only adds an extra layer of deliciousness, but also stops the brownie base from becoming soggy.

Making the Raspberry Cheesecake layer:

Place the raspberries, caster sugar and framboise (or apple juice) into a blender.

Pulse until you have a smooth, deep cerise, thick raspberry coulis. Set to one side.

Break up the white chocolate and place into a heatproof microwaveable bowl.

Zap for 20 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate has almost melted.

Remove from the microwave and continue stirring until completely melted. Set to one side.

In a large bowl add the tub of mascarpone cheese and 200mls of double cream.

Using a hand mixer, whisk until fully combined.

Pour the raspberry coulis into the cheesecake mix and whisk until fully incorporated.

Next pour in the melted white chocolate.

Whisk all of the cheesecake ingredients together until light and creamy.

Spoon the raspberry cheesecake on to the cold, set, chocolate ganache covered brownie base in the springform tin.

Smooth the top of the raspberry cheesecake to ensure a flat, even finish.

Cover the cheesecake with cling film and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to allow to set.

Once you have smoothed the top of the cheesecake you can lick the spoon 😉

Decorating the Cheesecake:

Remove the cheesecake from the fridge.

Run a palette knife between the outside edge of the cheesecake and the iside of the springform tin.

Place the springform tin centrally on a large tin of beans (or something equally as sturdy).

Release the springform catch and gently encourage the sides of the tin to fall away from the base.

Place the Chocolate Brownie Raspberry Cheesecake on to a serving plate or cake stand – the base will still be attached, don’t worry that’s fine.

Use a palette knife, that has been kept in a jug of boiling water, to smooth the top and sides of the cheesecake.

Melt 50g of dark chocolate in a microwaveable, heat proof bowl, as before.

Pour the melted chocolate into a small, disposable piping bag.

Snip off the very end of the piping bag to create a small hole.

Pipe swirls of chocolate all around the edge of the cheesecake and larger loops in the centre. Continue piping over the swirls around the edge until the chocolate is all used.

Chocolate Brownie Raspberry Cheesecake so beautifully decorated and yet so easy to achieve.

Now stand back and look at the beautiful Chocolate BrownieRaspberry Cheesecake that you have made and decorated.

Such a simple piping technique and yet incredibly elegant. This cheesecake is perfect for adding the wow factor to any dinner party or celebration. Pale pink and chocolate brown are a classic colour combination, ensuring this dessert looks elegantly appetising.

The taste and texture of the brownie base was perfect, just like homemade. I would definitely recommend it, especially if you bake only at weekends or for special occasions. As all the ingredients come pre-weighed, you can easily make and bake brownies in under 30 minutes!

If you have enjoyed this Chocolate Brownie Raspberry Cheesecake then you may also like these recipes: